Has Armstead Been Given the Green Light to play?

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is optimistic that Terron Armstead will play in Sunday's home opener against the Denver Broncos

Old people usually have jokes about what hurts, so when Terron Armstead was asked about his achy back, injured ankle, and the sore knee specified on the weekly injury report, the Miami Dolphins offensive lineman provided a one-liner.

“That’s just the stuff that I told them about,” said Armstead, the Dolphins’ 32-year-old offensive lineman, who hopes to play his first game of his 11th NFL season Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

Armstead participated in a second straight week of practice, and his first padded practice this week, engaging in the physical trench play needed to get himself ready for game day, and it was a major step on his road back to the starting offensive line.

McDaniel pleased with Armstead's work

“He’s given me a reason for optimism,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “I feel good about where he’s at and I’m hoping that there are just green lights, and no red lights till Sunday.”

As well as Kendall Lamm has played as Armstead's replacement at left tackle the past two games, and as good as Miami’s offensive line has looked in the season’s first two wins — allowing one sack — Armstead is a four-time Pro Bowler and the leader of that unit.

So when he’s ready, and given his clearance from the Dolphins’ medical staff, he’s going to be anchoring that unit.

“We’re working,” Armstead said. “Going to get more reps. Eyes on Sunday.”

Are there concerns about Armstead's stamina?

The biggest concern with Armstead is how his body, and all his ailments, which includes his surgically repaired right knee, are handing the back-to-back practice days, which are needed to get the conditioning he needs to play 50-plus snaps in the NFL game.

Unlike defensive linemen, offensive linemen don’t rotate in and out of games. They start and finish games when healthy, so a player’s stamina is important.

“That’s the way to tell, for sure,” Armstead said about his first two weeks of practicing every day since training camp of 2022. “The day after, try to keep any type of swelling or aches (down).”

The Dolphins spent this week assessing whether Armstead, who suffered a right ankle injury six weeks ago in Miami’s second joint practice with the Houston Texans, has the stamina to handle that against the Denver Broncos in Sunday’s 1 p.m. home game.

“He holds that over his own head as the veteran that he is. That’s anxiety he had rid himself of the last couple weeks,” McDaniel said. “If it were a younger player that didn’t know what he was getting into, I’d be concerned.”

Last year, because of a toe injury and other ailments, Armstead only practiced all three days before a game only once. But that was a strategy the Dolphins used to their top offensive linemen to game day.

The hope is that Armstead will be healthy for the remaining 15-plus games, and a regular participant in practice each week.

Armstead’s hope is that he’ll elevate the performance of what Miami’s offensive line has started without him.

“Those guys have been putting a lot of work in and it’s great when you can see what comes from putting in all of those hours of work behind the scenes, and then you can go display on the big stage,” Armstead said. “We still got a lot of work to do, a lot of improvement to do, but I’m extremely proud of my group.”

Could Lamm challenge for another starting spot?

What happens to Lamm will depend on how well Austin Jackson plays as Miami's starting right tackle, and the injuries that unit has in the coming weeks.

McDaniel labeled Jackson's play in the first two games as "awesome," but pointed out he'll need to "continue his progress" to remain a starter because Miami finally has quality depth on the offensive line.

"[We] have a valuable asset in the fact that you have depth and you don't just all of a sudden close your eyes and say, OK, this is bestowed to you," McDaniel said. "Depth [gives] extra incentive for every player across the board to make sure that they're putting their best foot forward because the Miami Dolphins need the best player that's available, not the guy that just played before."